How Much Does it Cost to Maintain Catamaran?
One of the first questions you need to ask yourself before you decide to purchase a boat is how much a catamaran costs and what’s your budget. Nevertheless, answering these questions often leads to asking even more questions and calculations about the price, cost of dockage, repairs, offseason storage, catamaran insurance, and any other catamaran hidden costs that might come with boat ownership.
Since determining a proper budget is not an easy task, we put together this guide to help you successfully ascertain how much a catamaran maintain cost. However, you have to be careful as if there is a consistent in yacht sales, it is in the inconsistency. This means that each yacht sale is an individual transaction with its own set of circumstances and its own story, which means that the exact costs will vary in each purchase. Yet, this value outline strives to provide you with a trial guide on what you should expect when it comes to yacht ownership cost.
Asking Price and Sales Price
There is no typical percentage that a seller will negotiate off their asking price. In some cases, the seller may accept the offer at 50% of their total asking price. In other cases, they would not negotiate off their asking price at all.
However, this does not mean that the boat that accepted an offer price at 50% off their asking is a better deal. This can simply be an indicator that the seller was drastically overpriced from the start and had to negotiate that far off of their asking price. Moving forward, the seller that doesn’t want to negotiate off their asking price may have the boat at an asking price that is far below market value and it is of great value as it is.
At the end of the day, when it comes to the yacht cost of ownership, asking price does not mean a lot. This is because the most important thing according to market dynamics and the condition of the vessel is the True Market Value of the given yacht. You can circumscribe the True Market Value of a given yacht by having your broker perform a personal inspection of the yacht and having them compare it with other yachts that are currently for sale on the market.
What you need to understand however is that these sold figures and comparables are not available to the general public, therefore it is extremely important to contact your broker to help you attain the true market value of the boat you are interested in.
The Next Step – Survey and Haul Out
After you have determined your sailboat cost of ownership and you’ve placed it under contract, the next thing you should do is to arrange payment for the survey and haul of the boat. One more information that is of great importance is that the yearly insurance on the boat will run on average at about 1.5% of the value of the boat. This is as the cost of insuring a catamaran is based on hull value, location and type of use of the vessel.
Catamarans Insured for Private and Charter Use
The annual insurance cost of owning a 40-foot sailboat in the Hurricane Zone – meaning Florida, Caribbean and the Bahamas usually cost around 1.5% – 1.7% of the hull value. Outside this zone, like North of Florida, the annual insurance cost 0.8% – 0.9% of the hull value.
Around 2.0% of the hull value will cost you the annual insurance in the region of California and the Pacific Islands, and in the Mediterranean, Annual Insurance will probably cost you 1.0% of the hull value.
The Insurance for a chartering cat will cost you up to 2% on average.
Insurance for Ocean Crossing
When it comes to this type of insurance, there is an additional “One Time Crossing Fee” which will cost you from $500 – $1,000 USD. Pacific Ocean crossings may raise your annual insurance rates. The yearly price of dockage will depend on how often you are at the docks indeed. This means that if you are able to anchor out, there is little to no cost involved. If you stay on the docks, the cost will rise quickly.
If you want to keep these costs down, we would suggest you invest in a high-quality dinghy that enables you to drop anchor and get into the shore real quick and comfortable. Note that a very quality dinghy will pay itself off in no time.
Winterization, Repairs and Yearly Service
Speaking of yearly service and repair costs of a catamaran, they can vary depending on the age and condition of the vessel. The yearly service and repairs for a 2-5-year-old vessel usually will run from $3,000 – $5,000 USD on average to above average condition. The cost includes yearly haul out, bottom paint, changing zinc anodes and other different items that may arise.
